Monday, 23 June 2014

My "The Warmth of The Sun" Beach Boys painting is included in a show curated by Ben Moore in Notting Hill and there's also a poster of the painting being displayed in Westbourne Park Tube Station.
Here are some photos from the private view.

Highlights of his set included a fantastic cover version of "Take Another Little Piece of My Heart". Lamby was joined on stage by several guests including the lovely Adrian R. Shaw (who sang a very sweet and tender "Leaving On A Jet Plane")

Other numbers in the set included a frantic version of "Big Mouth Strikes Again", "Lola", and "Tequila". I had a great time.

Gary the warm up man deserves a special mention for his highly entertaining Tommy Cooper tribute.

And Important Tate Person Piers Warner gave a nice speech thanking Ritchie for being a splendid chap.

Friday, 20 June 2014

The P.V. for "Jolie Laide" is on from 6pm till 9pm on Friday 3rd of October. The show will also be open on Sat the 4th and Sunday the 5th of Oct from 1 o'clock till 4pm. The venue is called "Hotel Elephant" which is (opposite the Law Courts), 40 Newington Causeway SE1 6DR. The title of the show "Jolie Laide" is a compliment of sorts. It roughly translates as "Ugly Beautiful". The idea is to exhibit works that are unconventionally appealing or, work that walks that thin line between beautiful and ugly. The image above is a sculpture called La Grosse made by Craig Crosbie. Other artists featured in for this show are Mac Honeyman, Kyle HawkinsGordon Beswick, Sir Peter Blake, Mel Cole, Marcus Cope with Ross Walker, Rose Gibbs,Gavin Nolan, Peter Harris & Ray Davies, Edward Todd, Sandra Turnbull, Zac T Lee, Caroline Gervay, and Julian Wakeling. The Jolie Laide exhibition will be part of Elefest. Rob Wray, the founder and director of Elefest, says: "the festival celebrates one of the most maligned and misunderstood areas of London". More news soon...

(Above: "Homer" by Marcus Cope & Ross Walker)

(Above: "Beauty in Nature is the sound of one hand clapping. Sublime Blue silence ."
by Sandra Turnbull)

Thursday, 12 June 2014

Simon Love is great. I saw his band play live in Shoreditch a few months back and was really impressed.

REBEL: Do you think there are any good new bands out there? Have all the good songs been sung?
LOVE: "There are a few bands around that I like such as The Fireworks, Cosines & I Like The Go-Go. As to whether all the good songs have been sung? I think it all depends on the conviction of the person singing them."

REBEL: How many instruments can you play, which ones are you best at?
LOVE:"I can get by on any of the main ones, but I'm probably best at the guitar. In a fashion."

REBEL: Is Mike Love your fave member of The Beach Boys?
LOVE: "He seems like an egotistical, back-stabbing, no good, money-grabbing shit. So yes, of course he is."

REBEL: I love the Heroine song by Mikey Georgeson & Civilized Scene - what's it like collaborating and touring with Mikey? Is it difficult being in two bands?
LOVE: "It's amazing being in a band with Mikey. His songs are always interesting & it's inspiring to be around such creativity. I loved the 1st David Devant & His Spirit Wife LP & used to watch them on Asylum in the mid-90s & marvel at their theatricality. The 1st time I met him he wasn't wearing the Vessel's wig so I didn't recognise him. It was only after the show I put 2 & 2 together & then a few months later he contacted me to join his new group."

REBEL: Are you proud of your Cardiff roots? Who are your fave Welsh people?
LOVE: "I'm sort of proud. I've been living in London for 5 years now & there's something about this place that gets into you & dislodges your past. Whenever I go back to Cardiff it does feel a bit like you're doing everything in slow-motion. Which can sometimes be good of course. Amongst my favourite Welsh people are Shakin' Stevens (a childhood hero), Gruff Rhys & my Grampy- Eloy Rodrigues (not the most Welsh sounding name I know)."

REBEL: How important are record labels and managers in this day and age - can everyone do everything themselves these days?
LOVE: "I'd say it depends on what you want to achieve. I've got an LP coming out later this year on Fortuna Pop who are an independent label who've had some success over the past couple of years with bands like Allo Darlin, Joanna Gruesome & September Girls but they're still a one-man operation. I think to have a manager is to announce that you're taking everything seriously which for me at my age seems a bit stupid. I treat music as a very expensive hobby that I can't give up. I've tried a few times but then get all itchy & realise there's a reason I've wasted the past 15 years of my life & probably thousands of pounds doing this."

REBEL: Where do you buy your clothes?
LOVE: "Mostly from charity shops. I'm attempting to lose some weight at the moment though so I'm trying to not shell out on anything to swish until I'm slimmed down a bit."

REBEL: What's the best song you've released so far?
LOVE: "I think I've got 3 songs that I can stand by & say "These are the best" "Xs & Os", "My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)" & "Motherfuckers" The 1st 2 were released on an EP in 2006 by The Loves & the 3rd I've recorded 2 versions of that. The 1st was for a Xmas single my friend needed another song for & the other will be on my new LP. An early mix can be found on my bandcamp page- http://simonlove.bandcamp.com There's a song I've got called "Elton John" that'll be a single later this year that is quite good too. It's written from the perspective of Renate, the woman who married Elton John."

REBEL: Can you quote a line from a favourite poem?
LOVE: "But she didn't do it & now it's too late" from "Too Many Daves" by Dr Seuss. It's such a funny & gently sad poem.

REBEL: Who was your fave member of The Velvets, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles?
LOVE:
a) The Velvet Underground- Sterling Morrison
b) The Stones- Charlie Watts
c) The Beatles- George Harrison
"All 3 of them have a mysterious quiet dignity that I would love to be able to have."

REBEL: What is your idea of beauty in nature?
LOVE: "I never really cared for nature til I moved to London. Someone introduced me to just going for a walk in the park which is something I'd never done til then. For me walking was a means of getting somewhere not just something to do (that's what telly's for)."

REBEL: What is your motto?
LOVE: "Wanna be a gun-slinger, don't be a rock singer"

REBEL: What is your present state of mind?
LOVE: "A bit miserable, a bit hopeful. Same old, same old..."

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Louise Aldridge (pictured above)is a bright young thing whose paintings are selling and whose reputation is growing. You can find out more about her by visiting her website (www.louisealdridge.com)or reading the mini interview below...

The Rebel:How much time do you get to spend painting or drawing each week?
Louise: "I was likely enough to register as a self-employed artist shortly after graduating in the summer 2013 from my Fine art Degree. I had amazing response to my work after exhibiting in both my degree show and then soon after a London show. I now work full time partly on my own work that I sell mainly on Saatchi Online as a ‘One to Watch artist’ and commission pieces for businesses and home spaces. I am also currently collaborating with two designers on different projects, so I guess the answer is all day every day!"
The Rebel: What's your studio like? Do you tend to work at night or during the day?
Louise: "I am most productive in the day; I usually wake up 7am and am working in the studio by 8am,
My studio is currently in my home - a large garage that looks a state but for an artist surprisingly tidy, it is only when I am painting that I create a load of mess, I work very freely with paint so you can imagine everything get covered, including myself. But I always like to end a day with a tidy studio so that nothing clouds my head for the following day."

The Rebel: I like your paintings of Norman. Can you tell me about your relationship to him - is he a friend, relative or someone you just liked the look of?
Louise: "Norman is my grandfather and we have an amazing relationship. He is far from the serious, blank expression in these studies. People miss interpret his character from these works. I think that’s why I had such an urge to paint him. His relaxed face is an open book; every line has a story.

The Rebel:Francis Bacon is listed as one of your influences. Would period of his work do you like most - do you think he continued making interesting work right up to the end?
Louise: "Francis Bacon’s work is powerful to me in ways that are both unexplainable and obvious.
Bacon has the same fascination as I do; an unexplainable urge to constantly try to interpret or represent the figure. For me, he transformed the way in which we view the figure today."
The Rebel:Can you work from old postcards and scraps of paper and film stills like Bacon did or do your best results come from working from a model?
Louise:"Before studying Fine art I had never painted or drawn from a model, so found the process of drawing from life daunting thing, it look me two years to really free up when in the life room but now for the last year and a bit I do nothing other than paint and draw from life. It is only very recently that I am starting to use past drawings, cut outs from magazines, and photography. I feel as if this grounding of life drawing has opened up another door for me in my practise by using secondary sources again.

The Rebel:Are there any key movies in your life? Or films that always make you cry?
Louise: "I don’t have to look too far to stimulate enough emotion to make me tearful, whether that’s got to do with being a woman or genetics… but one film that makes me cry every time is ‘The Little Princess’ it’s an old kids film now ,but even thinking about it wells me up! Think it’s got to do with the recurring nightmares I used to have as a child being separated from my parents through death or a kidnapping…

The Rebel: Are there any artists in your family and do your parents take an interest in what you do?
Louise: "I am from a very creative family, no artists as such, but my mum is very musically talented and my dad has an amazing eye for detail and can copy a picture beautifully – I think our creative streak is from my Nan (dads mum). She paints stunning watercolour work but always copies from a picture.. so feels she isn't creative but that isn't true I think that’s just fear.
My Brother and sister are also very artistic my brother is an incredible drawer and uses these skills in his landscape architecture business and my sister is an actress!"

The Rebel: What do you consider to be your best painting so far?
Louise: "It’s strange; I have an odd relationship with my work. As soon as I've finished a new piece I think it’s the best work I have ever completed. Then in a few days I can’t bear to look at it… It then takes a few weeks or sometimes months until I re address the work and my feelings change again – usually fondness. I can’t really say what my ‘Favourite’ piece is … I paint what I want to paint because I enjoy it - otherwise I wouldn't do it, so what I ‘like’ the most always changes really. I know a big part of it comes when you release works its always really interesting to see how your opinion can change to a work once other people’s opinions are heard."

The Rebel:What are your ambitions?
Louise: "My ambition is to get my work seen by as many people as I can… The feeling when a complete stranger emails you to say they really appreciate what you are doing or you hear your name is mentioned on another continent drives me on.But generally? To be happy, and travel as much as possible and to always be positive.

The Rebel: What's the most inspiring exhibition you've ever seen?
Louise: "This is a hard question for me as I have found so many exhibitions inspiring, but one that really sticks in my mind is the The Picasso exhibition in Malaga. I don’t know whether it’s because we hear so much about Picasso’s work whether you’re an artist or not but I almost became numb to the constant study at university and the constant reference to his work, that it wasn't until I visited this beautiful space with some of his most famous works right down to some mindless scribbles that I really built a deep appreciation and what he did, How he changed art single handily inspired and influenced every artist’s work today , whether they know it or not.

The Rebel: What's the best thing about being you?
Louise: "I think the people around me.. I am lucky, I have an amazing fiancé, family and friends and these are the people who drive me on and keep me sane."